More than 50 dogs have been shot for attacking livestock in North Wales, a new report has revealed.

The figures, released as part of a National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) report, shows that 648 livestock have been killed following such attacks since 2013, with the vast majority being sheep.

Currently, dog owners are not obliged to make a report to the police if their dog attacked livestock , and attacks are not treated as a "recordable crime" on police systems.

But the report also recommends that police forces should have the power to obtain a dog’s DNA if it was suspected of, or had committed, an attack.

North Wales Police helped lead the report in conjunction with four other forces, Devon and Cornwall, Sussex, Hertfordshire and North Yorkshire, holding a six-month trial to improve the recording of these attacks.

Sheep killed in an attack in Brynford (Image: Rural Crime Team)

The NPCC’s Wildlife and Rural Crime Working Group spent a year looking at the true extent of livestock worrying and attacks across the five forces, uncovering 1,705 recorded incidents at an estimated cost of £250,000.

As well as 52 dogs being shot in North Wales - the most of all the forces, 648 sheep were killed and another 376 injured across the region during the four years.

In 89% of recorded cases of livestock worrying in the region, the dog owner was not present, with 5% committed by repeat offending from the dog’s owner or walker.

Welcoming the report’s findings, Dyfed-Powys Police Chief Constable Mark Collins said: “There should be a requirement from the Home Office that police forces record attacks on livestock and on animals not currently listed as livestock as a recordable crime.

“Because livestock worrying is not a recordable offence, it is difficult to put an exact figure on the cost of these offences.

“However, in 2016, it was estimated that around 15,000 sheep alone were killed by dogs, putting the cost to the farming sector at around £1.3m – this is unsustainable for the farming community.

“I also believe it is fundamentally important that dog owners take responsibility if their animals attack livestock and report it immediately to police.

“This will allow the livestock owner to attend the scene more quickly, and could potentially save some of the animals involved.”

The Minister for Animal Welfare, Lord Gardiner, said in response: “The report makes a number of recommendations and proposals for improvements to the legislation which I will be looking at closely.”

Robyn Mason, Superintendent for Ceredigion and force lead for rural crime, added: “Officers who attend scenes of livestock worrying and attacks are often faced with badly injured animals that need to be destroyed due to the extent of their injuries, or miscarry their unborn lambs and calves.

"The dog involved can also end up being shot by the livestock owner, or later destroyed, which is understandably very upsetting for the owner.

"Although farmers will quite often accept compensation from the dog owners, where the owner is identified, that doesn’t really take into account the ongoing costs to buy or breed replacements.

“Although we try our best to educate dog owners, many still think it is OK to allow their dogs to roam freely in the countryside even when it’s obvious there are livestock in nearby fields.

"Private land is private land and unless it has ‘open access’ rights or a public right of way through it then people should not even be walking their dogs through fields, let alone leave them loose.”